Paper-fastener



E. VIOLLET.

PAPER FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 13. 1919.

1,355,629, Pat antgil Oct. 12,1920. ZZ%; 34/32 v if" INVENTOR BY AATTORNEY V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' EUGENE women, or LmoeEs, amen.

v PAPER-FASTENER.

To all whom it may concern I I Be it known that I, EUGiiNE VIOLLET, acitizen of the Republic of France, and a resident of Limoges, in theRepublic of France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPaper-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improvement/in paper fasteners. Oneobject of the invention is to improve upon the construction andarrangement of the parts of a paper fastener in order to produce onecapable of holding any'numbero'f sheets of paper firmly and which may beso operated that the sheets of paper may be quickly and expeditiouslyplaced in the fastener and as quickly and expeditiously removedtherefrom, without opening up the pile of bound papers or disturbing theother sheets. Another object of the inventionis to produce a paperfastener of such construction that it is not necessary to perforate orcut the paper in any manner in order to provide for its effectiveholding or clamping or for the alinement of the sheets held together. Afurther object of the invention is to produce a paper fastener of suchconstruction that the thickness through the parts of the paper fasteneris substantially no greater than the thickness through the sheetscofpaper fastened together, irrespective of the number of sheets in thefastener. These and other objects of the invention are accomplished inthe improved paper fastener illustrated in the accompanying drawings,described in the following specification and particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. In the accompanying drawings illustrating thepreferred form of the invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of thecomplete pa per fastener as used in fastening or holding togetherseveral sheets of paper; Fig. 2 is a plan of the blank from which theholder and binding springs are formed; Fig. 3 is a rearelevation of thefastener in open position; Fig. 4 is a section on an enlarged scaletaken on the line 44of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is an end elevation of thefastener in use;

and Fig. 6 isa section taken on the line 6-6 Specification of LettersPatent. Patented Oct, 12 1920. Application filed May 13,

1919. Serial No. 296,737."

margins. The jaws are formed from blanks,

and each jaw consists of a single blank folded upon itself, so that oneof the folds or flaps thereofis about one-half as wide asthe other.'lVhen the blank has been thus folded, it is seen that one-half thewidth of the jaw is twice as thick as the other half. '*T he workingfaceof the clamping jaws is the face upon which the shorter fold 11 islocated, that is to say, when the paper fastener is in use this face ofthe jaws-will engage with the paper. The pressure exerted'upon the jawsto bind or clamp the sheets of paper between them will be exerted uponthis part of the jaws, so that the short fold' of the jaws will becaused to exert a bindingpres sure upon the paper. The jaws will be sopositioned upon the paper that the thin part of the j aws willextendtoward' the rear margin of the paper. Only the forward or thickerhalf of the clamping jaws will thus exert any considerable pressure uponthe paper, and the rearor thinner half of the jaws will not serve tocompress the paper between them. In fact, the back margin of the paperwill have a slightly fan-like appearance when viewed from the top orbottom ends of the pile of paper. This construction and mode ofoperation causes the fastener to clamp the sheets of paper tightly.

being pulled from between the clamping jaws except by the exertion ofconsiderable force. I

In order to facilitate the alinement of the sheets of paper used withthe present fastener, each heet may be conveniently pro vided with twoor more cup-like depressions upon or near its rear margin. Thesedepressions will be. adapted to be engaged by correspondingly shapedbosses.12 formed on the inner face of the short fold ll of the clampingjaw 9 of the fastener. The depressions will be formed in the face sideof the sheets of paper and consequently there will be a correspondinglyshaped boss or protuberance on the under sides of the sheets ofpaperyand these bosses willbe adapted to fit in holes 13 punched through12 and theholes 13 will, of course, be formed in their respective jawsbefore the latter;

are'folded. hen the jaws are in position in the fastener, the'holes13will aline or register with the bosses l2. Not only does the embossingof the: paper in this manner and the, provision of thebosses'12 and theho1es 13 facilitate the'fialinement of the sheets'of paper in the pileof paper fastened together temporarily by the fastener, but it alsofacilitates the alinement of the sheets when they are bound together bythe fastener for permanent insertion between covers, as the sheets ofloose-leaf journals or V ledgers, and thelike; This construction alsoaids in preventing. the sheets from being ac- .cidentally'removed whenbound together by "the fastener, and also facilitates the insertion andremoval of the sheets of paper from the bound pile.

.Each aw is provided at the ektremity of its thickened portion with anaxle or trunnion 15, upon which the jaw is adapted to pivot; Vh'en the.clampingjaws are in position inthe paper. fastener, these trunnions areinserted in holes in the forward ends of the arms 16,-which constitute apart of the springs. 17 for holdingand operating the f jaws. These,"arms project forwardly from the springs andthe springs themselves areelongations ,of the body portion proper orholder'18 of the paperfastener. The

:holes or bearings for the trunnions are made by rolling up theextremities 20 of the arm 16. It will be seen by reference to Fig. 2

body' portion or holder of the fastener has- 'bee'n died out into theform shown in Fig. .2, it 'is folded uponits longitudinal axis.

that the .spring portions 17 of the paper fastener are formed bycuttinga narrow slit 22 in the middle ofeachi-end of the plate or blankfrom which the body por tion or holder of the fastener is formed.

.The longer, this slit isithe thicker the pile of paper capable of beingheldby the as tener. Convenience, however; will dictate the thickness ofthepile of paper to be held together by a single, fastener; When theWhen the holder has been folded upon itself, it is ready for. theclamping jaws, and these are inserted so that the short folds 11 willface eachother. In order that the jaws may not revolve so that theirthinner or rear ends will come together, each jaw is provided with anear 24 projecting longitudinally and rearwardly from the middleof itsthinner part, and these ears are adapted to strike or engage with theholder. Inasmuch as the axles or .trunnions-of the clamping jaws arelocatedtoward the front or inner edge of the jaws, thejaws will alrings.

.vention is in use.

operative position. the short fold 11 of the jaw" 10. The bosses ig, 3,the springs tending to hold the -The' fastener isnormally open, as shownhowever a sheet of paper is to be removed from the clamped or-held pile,the sliderings'are moved toward the middle of the holder, therebyreleasingthe tension on the springs and relieving the pressure the jawsexert upon the paper. A stop 26 determines the. inwardmovement of each'of'the slide- Inorder that the paper may be adapted for 'use inconnection with a pair of covers or loose-leaf binder, as such coversare known in the art, the fastener is provided with slots 2'7 formed inthe rear margin at the-base of the springs,'thereby adapting it fortherings or other means for bindingthepile of papers into the looseleafholder. Thebody portion or holder of the fastener itself maybeprovided'with a series of holes for thispurposeq It is thus seen thatthe paper fastener of the present invention is adapted for use inconnection with the ordinary forms of loose-leaf binder, andparticularly those using either rings or other contrivances to fastenthe sheets of paper into binders, with this advantage over the previousmethods of securing the sheets in the binders, namely, without thenecessity 'of making holes in the paperitself.

- It is obvious from the foregoing description what the mode ofoperation of the improved paper fastener of the. present. in-

The two slide-rings '25 are moved toward the. middle of the holderagainst their stops 26', so" that the springs will-permit the clampingjaws to open freely. The sheets of paper adapted to be held or boundtogether by the fastener will necessarily be shorter than the clampingjaws, or at least they will n ot have a greater length. The rear marginsof the sheets of paper willcome substantially flush with the rear edgesofithe holding aws. As they pile of paper held by the jaws grows inthickness, the jaws will, of course'remain parallel I or substantiallyparallel with the sheets of paper, but the outer ends of the spring armswill vspread out fan-like, with the holder necessarily. in alinementwith the middle of the pile of paper. 'It is seen that the rear edges ofthe pile of paper are separated somewhatvfrom' the inner edge .of theholder. This is for the purpose of permitting the inner edge of-theholder to progressively move nearer the rear edges 'of paper, each heldor fastened together by the fastener of the present invention, to bepiled one on top of the other with the fasteners all at one side,without rendering this side much thicker than the other side. This is afeature of considerable importance, inasmuch as when a pile of paper ismade up of a considerable number of units, each fastened together by thefastener, the upper units will not have a tendency to slide 05 thepiles, as is the case when ringbinders and the like are used. The paperfastener of the present invention is not only adapted to hold or bindtogether sheets of paper for the purpose of keeping them temporarilysegregated from other sheets, but is also adapted to permanently fastenthem together in loose-leaf binders adapted for the purpose. In eithercase, the bound sheets can be conveniently used in the form of a'book,the sheets turning back as far as the inner edges of the clamped jaws.In fact this method of binding or holding together loose sheets of paperclosely resembles, in conveniece, the binding together of sheets ofpaper permanently in a book, inasmuch as the sheets are always closelycon tiguous to each other, especially at the point where they are boundtogether by the clamping jaws.

Having thus pointed out the features of the invention, it will berecognized that the invention is not to be limited to the precise formshown in the drawings and described above, but that it may be embodiedin other forms within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is 1. A paperfastener comprising two jaws adapted to hold sheets of paper betweenthem, springs having arms on the outer ends of which the jaws arepivotally mounted so as to swing on their longitudinal axis, saidsprings causing the jaws to exert a binding pressure upon the paper, andmeans for causing the springs to increase the pressure exerted by thejaws upon the paper.

2. A paper fastener comprising a pair of elongated jaws adapted to clampsheets of paper between them, springs having arms arranged at rightangles thereto, and bearings in the outer ends of the arms and extendinglongitudinally of the axis of the springs, the aws being pivotallysupported in the bearings.

3. A paper fastener comprising two jaws adapted to hold sheets of paperbetween them, a pair of arms for supporting each jaw so that it mayswing on its longitudinal axis and parallelly to the other jaw and sprinmeans for supporting the arms.

4. A paper fastener comprising a pair of elongated jaws adapted to clampsheets of paper between them, each jaw being formed from a blank foldedupon itself so that one half the width of the jaw is substantially twicethe thickness of the other half and spring means for supporting the jawsso that the shorter folds of the jaws clamp the paper.

5. A paper fastener comprising a pair of jaws, a holder having springends, arms projecting from the springs and provided with means forpivotally supporting the jaws, and stops on the jaws for preventing themfrom swinging past the arms.

6. A paper fastener comprising a pair of elongated jaws, one part ofwhich is substantially thicker throughout the length of the jaws thanthe other part, the clamping faces of the jaws being formed by thethickened portions thereof, a spring-holder for supporting the jawsarranged so that the jaws will always be parallel irrespective of thethickness of the pile of paper interposed between them, and means forincreasing the pressure exerted by the jaws upon the paper.

7. A paper fastener comprising pivotally mounted clamping jaws, a holderhaving spring means for supporting the jaws and being provided withapertures adapted to receive binding means for securing the fastener ina loose-leaf binder.

EUGENE VIOLLET.

